accidentally hired 5 maids

I accidentally hired 5 maids

What? How does that even happen? Read on, my friend.

Hello and welcome, I see we have some new guests today! Please, sit down, and enjoy. I am your quirky but lovable host, Kara Whaley, and we’ll be chatting today. Awesome! Do have some treats! Lemonade will be served in just a moment. Do sit down, there are plenty of comfy chairs!

Now that we’re all settled, I can tell you about this story and what it means for yourbusiness.

Last week, I started looking for a maid to pick up the slack on my house. I have no shame! I start chatting with 10 or so house cleaning agencies and personal cleaners via Facebook, and start to narrow it down. Within the hour, I’ve somehow hired 5 of those people to start the following week.

What happened?

Let’s break it down and see what the problem was.

Unclear messaging. I wasn’t super clear what I wanted. I knew that I wanted a clean house – but what did that me? This applies if you are outsourcing in your business, and in your branding. Get super clear on what you offer, and who you are selling to!

Multitasking. Big red flag. I was talking to 10 people, at once. That is never a good sign. I should have gotten on the phone with someONE, pronto. You learn so much more about someone, their business, and if you’re going to be a good fit, in a phone call.

Shopping on price. It is hard to shop on something other than price when price is the only information that you have. I am new to the maid and house cleaning industry, and all I was given were prices from the 10s of people sending me information (nary a website link was sent). People default to shopping on price, because that is something they know. When speaking with potential clients, be sure to talk about your service’s value, and don’t focus on price comparison. Show them your value, show them that your service is an experience. Get them way from the price mindset!

We had some issues, but surely there’s a clean happy house ending?

The result.

I have a sink full of dirty dishes. Each of the maids had a different emergency situation, and one has ignored me entirely. Bonus tip: always be super professional and courteous (but of course, you knew that)!

Until next week, where I answer your questions on how I stay sane in my inbox (inbox 0, labels, and CRMs!)
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